Times Internet buys majority stake in MX Player for Rs 1,000cr

Times Internet (TIL), the digital venture of the Times of India group, has bought majority stake in local video platform MX Player for over Rs 1,000 crore, as part of its plans to enter the video over-the-top (OTT) space.

MX Player is investing aggressively into premium, original, digital-first content, with an emphasis on high quality Hindi and regional production, a release said today.

"TIL has invested over Rs 1,000 crore to acquire a majority stake, to build a digital-first video streaming platform atop MX Player's 350 million install base in India," the release added.

The company has installed over 500 million devices globally.

Times Internet chief executive officer Gautam Sinha said India presents one of the biggest digital entertainment opportunities in the world with over 400 million Internet users.

"We are building a content experience with the quality of mainstream media, but designed specially and exclusively for Indian millennial that are digital-first," he added.

The platform will launch with more than 20 original shows, and over 50,000 hours of premium content across all languages, according to the release.

MX Player will continue to support its offline video playback features that are currently available.